# Transcendence, or the Quest for the Divine

- Institution: Gresham College
- Speaker: Professor Sir Jim Mallinson
- Year: 2026
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: History, Religion, Art, architecture and design
- Source: [Gresham College](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/transcendence)
- Licence: [Educational use (Gresham College's terms)](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/terms-and-conditions)
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

In this lecture, Jim Mallinson draws on texts, art history and fieldwork to trace the history of the role of the body in yoga over its 2,500-year history.For its first 1,500 years the body is to be transcended; yoga’s aim is an almost death-like mental stillness equated with liberation. Then the body starts to be cultivated to attain power and immortality. While charting this transformation, Prof. Mallinson highlights parallels between yoga’s premodern goals and modern pursuits of longevity, perfection, and transcendence.

## Lectures

1. [What is the Purpose of Yoga: Transcendence or Transformation?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/series-transcendence/d0ddcbfdabf8) (YouTube)